New development after Israeli minister’s scandal call

The Haaretz newspaper headlined Smotrich’s visit to Washington with the headline “Everybody Hates Him, Smotrich Will Face Protests and Official Boycott.”

According to the news, Smotrich will deliver a speech at the leadership summit of an organization called “Israel Bonds,” which raises funds for Israeli businesses from the Jewish community in the US and is essentially affiliated with the Israeli state.

American Jewish organizations in the US pressured “Israel Bonds” not to accept Smotrich. However, “Israel Bonds” was unable to boycott Smotrich due to his ties to Israel’s Finance Ministry.

PROTEST BY LEADERS OF A JEWISH-AMERICAN NGO GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION

The leaders of many Jewish-American non-governmental organizations in the US announced that they would act together to protest against Smotrich.

Working for the promotion of democratic values ​​in Israel and made up of 12 Jewish-American organizations, the group “The Progressive Israel Network” declared that they would protest against the right-wing minister with the slogan “No to Smotrich, No to Hate”.

The “UnXeptable” organization, known for its protests against the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, has also said it will organize its own protests.

It was reported that non-governmental organizations called “Jewish Voice for Peace” and “IfNotNow”, which are known for their anti-Zionist attitudes, will also take part in the protests.

On the other hand, Smotrich will not have official contact with any official of the Biden administration.

Earlier, on Israel’s Channel 12 news, which was based on a high-level political source, it was shared that American officials considered Smotrich a “persona non-grata.”

SMOTRICH, THE MINISTER IN CHARGE OF THE FAR RIGHT IN ISRAEL

In Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, which came to power at the end of 2022, names like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right supporters of Jewish settlers, known for their racist actions and speeches and discriminatory. against the Palestinians, they were appointed to critical posts.

Although the attacks provoked a strong reaction from some sectors of Israel, as well as from the international community, a group of Israeli lawyers filed a criminal complaint against Finance Minister Smotrich, who supported the attacks, and some far-right lawmakers with the argument that they “encouraged war crimes”.

Religious Zionism Party leader Smotrich, in his speech at a panel, said: “I believe that the city of Huwwara should be wiped off the face of the earth, regarding the mass attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the city of Huwwara, south of Nablus, on February 26. I think the state of Israel should do this. This, God forbid, should not be done by the hand of the citizen”. he had used the phrase.

Smotrich said: “I chose the wrong words.” He took a step back. (AA)